Wind motor



WIND MOTOR Filed March 12. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l mi 5 FW /L/n 1/ @mi 9km-M4. sa" J/ @j maw/M g l my?) v Nov. 15, 1932.

1 coNsTANTlN E'r AL 1,887,802

WIND MOTOR Filed March l2, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 NOV' 15, 1932- l., coNsTANTlN ET AL 1,887,802

WIND MOTOR Filed March 12, 1931 5 'Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 15, 1932 UNITED STATES ,PATENTfoFrIcE] Louis coNs'rANTIN, oF rams, AND PATTI. nomma-BEAULIEU, oF noANNE,

' WIND Moron Application mea March 12, 1931, segnano. 522,048', and 1a Frama March 14, 1930,

The essential feature of our invenion con- 5 sists in that the orienting rudder and the effacing blade are mounted atthe ends of arms that are articulated to the movable headl of the main wind motor and drive said movable head through suitable'abutments. Suitable means such as a yspring or Ya counterweight are provided for exerting a force along the diagonal of an articulated lozenge two sides of which are formed by said armsin such manner that said arms are kept at right angles to each other fora normal speedV of the wind. Y Y

Y Furthermore, in order `to increase the power of the orienting rudder,it is advantageous to mount said rudder on the movable head of the wind motor in such manner that it may rotate under the action of a change in the direction of the wind and parted a greater thrust. ,n y

A preferred embodiment of our invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the appended drawings, given merely by way of example, and in which: y

Fig. 1 is diagrammatic plan view of the device in position of normal working;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan View of the same device when the wind motor is wholly eifaced; Y

Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the connection between the frame of the eifacing device and a shock absorbing arm; d Fig. 4 is a side view of the orienting rud- Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatical views of an articulated orienting rudder and its controlling' means corresponding to two different embodiments. 1

In `these figures, 1 is the direction of the wind, 2 is the path of the center of the propeller of the wind motor, and 3 is the orienting rudder. Said rudder 3 is supported by thus be iman arm 4 pivotally mounted at 5 on the movable head 6 of the wind motor. Said movable head is adapted to rotate about vertical axis 7 and carries a rigid arm 8 on which arm 4 is adapted to exert a thrust from the left to the right atraiga the intermediary@ shack absorber 9.-

The @eating bade 1o, which may te ,inn i or rounded, is carried by arm 11, whichis PVOtally mounted at- 5 On the rotatable head andis provided with` a shock; absorberf12.

Arms 4 rand 1l are connected` by two other 'arms 13 and 14,-themselves articulated at 15,

16 and l7',the whole forming an articulated lozenge the diagonal 18, of which consistsfofA a spring or'the cable that serves tol support a counterweight. f Y ,f -V j j' Arm 1lV butts thro gh ajshock absorber 19 against arigid arm k20rigidly connected to movable head 6. Said arm llis adapted to drive arm 20 and thereforemovablefheadr Y throughv a connection which is` shown in detailonFig.3'. l, e f

Two cables 21, secured in 22 to arm r4 and passingrover pulleys 23, 24and `25make-A it possible, by pulling ,them from the ground, to move arm 4toward arm 11l and thus to produce effacement at will. Y, Rudder l3 differs from the rudders that have been usedfupl to this day by the ,following features:

First. this rudder Vhas l-'I1ot,`as usual, its

longitudinalkdimensionplacedin the direction of the wind, but at right angles `to that direction. In 'other words said rudder is elongated in the vertical direction. Y

Furthermore, lts section is not a straight line but a line approximating a clrcular arc.

.In otherwords said rubber consistsbf aportion of a cylindrical surfacethe directrix of which isacirculararc located in a horizontal plane while its generatrixvis avert-ical straight line. -g f This circular are may bedisposedasshown in 3 when it is desired to balance up to a certain degree the thrust'of the wind on eifacing blade 10.y Or else it may-be disposed jas shown in 3a in dotted lines, when it is desired to add the thrust of ltheV wind on said ruddery to thatlexerted on blade 10.in o rder to balance up to a certain point vthe disorienting torque produced by the impeller through its-action on the .multiplying gearing.- f ,Y Y

The cylindrical surface thusrrdefined, orv

It will be supposed at first thatfthe4 direction of the wind passes from 1 to 1ct. Y. The equilibrium willbe destroyed and rudder 3 will tend to move from the right'to the left, thus driving through shock absorber 9 and arm 8 the remainder ofthe mechanism about common axis 7. This movement will stop when a new state of equilibrium -is estab- Y lished.

2 It will now be supposedthat the direction of the wind passes from 1 to 1b. Tf its velocity has not increased, there is no reason why the articulated lozenge should be de-4 formed. Therefore, rudder will tend to rotate from the left tothe right-and will accordingly drive arm 11, which, acting through shock absorber 19 on arm 20, willin'turn drive the whole movable mechanism until a new state ofequilibrium is'reached.-

It will now be supposedthat the velocity of the wind increases without its `direction being changed. The position Aof rudder 3 will be but slightly modified, if at all. The

, thrust ofthe wind on blade 10 will produce a deformation 'of the articulated lozenge and an elongation of spring 18 until, as'shown in Fig. 2,`the whole'having rotated about axis 7, the plane of rotation lof the impeller is parallel to the direction of the'wind. The effacement will then be complete.

It should be noted here that 'when the velocity of the wind will againdecrease, shock absorber 12 will tend to annihilate the wedging effectfwhich, otherwise, might take place.

The arrangement of spring 18 according to the invention has two very importantY advantages over the arrangements used up to this time: l

(a) The stroke of thespring may bel chosen as long as it is desired (b) TheV vtensile stress isalways directed along the axis of the spring. Y, y

The use of the shock absorbers will make the working of the whole more progressive and will preserve the support andthe mechanism from the very violent shocks thaty take place' with the ordinary devices in -rough weather. p' f In Fig. 5, rudder 3, which consists of aportion of a cylindrical surface and is shown in plan View, is connected to support i secured yto the movable head, not throughia system of rigid connections, but through an articulation alocated yback Jof the extreme position of the center of thrust.y (Accord- .able strength absorb the shocks and determine, with respect to the velocity of the. wind', the position of surface 3 with respect to stops b and b.

It will be readily understood that, under these conditions, if the whole is in a state of equilbrium under the action of a wind having-a direction y, a deflection of said wind toward 7 will'cause an angular-displacement of surface 8 toward position 3, the angle of incidence will increase and the orienting force, which is about proportional to this angl-e of incidence,- will also increase. Once the new position of equilibriuml is reached, the surface will again take its original positionV with respect to stops b and b if the velocity'of the wind' has not changed in the meantime.' AItshould however be pointed out that any change in the-velocity of the wind will 4somewhat modify this position of equilibrium, Vaccording to the strength of springs Z) :and b. Likewise, if the direction i of the wind is f,A surface 3 will tend to occupy 'position 3 -until the new orientation iseffectedl@ `f f We therefore provide in that way an Y orienting rudder which is extremely powerful, chiefly for' small Yvariations in the direction of the wind and'for small velocities of the wind, which is the very effect that is looked for. v Y l f l Fig. 6 shows another way of increasing the power of rudder 3. Tn this case, articulation cil is located very close to the mean posi- `tion of the center of thrust, so that the own angular displacements V4of vthe rudder may take place with the minimum actuating force. f i

These angular displacements are controlled by a windvane g, preferably a windvanerof the type comprising orienting surfaces mounted on an articulated quadrilateral and provided with counterweights c and c', :115

said windvane being rigidly connected at Vg with the rudder carrying arm 4, Tt is known that 'thecharacteristic' feature of this type of windvane is that,r when the directionof the wind rotates for instance through an angle of one degreesurfaces S and S are imparted a. V much lmore important, angulardisplacement if ,the lengths of the 'parallel sides of the trapezium on which they are mounted are suitably chosen. It results therefrom that by connecting one of the nonparallel sides of thel trapezium to the oscillating' rudder through an arm j, a rod Z, and a bent lever u provided with a `fork t and carried by a sup- Y rudder 8 will correspond to any deflectiony vention is not limited by the specific details as shown, but that it is subject to many and all structural variations which may express the invention and the same time come within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. An orienting and edacingl device for wind motors having a rotatable head carrying a wind motor which comprises in combination, an efacing blade, an arm for supporting said eiacing blade, direct means for angularly connecting said blade supporting arm to said rotatable head, an orienting rudder consisting of a single substantally cylindrical surface having vertical generatrices, an arm for supporting saidV rudder pivotally mounted on said rotatable head, said cylindrical surface being dissymmetrically disposed wi th respect to said last mentioned arm, a stop carried by said head adapted-to prevent said last mentioned arm from making an angle of more than 90 degrees with the blade supporting arm, two other arms articulated to each other and to-said blade supporting and rudder carrying arms so as to form an articulated lozenge, and resilient means for normally maintaining said arms at rght angles to each other.

2. An orienting and eifacing device for wind motors having a rotatable head carrying a wind motor which comprises in combination, an eacing blade, an arm for supporting said etlacing blade, direct means for angularly connecting said blade supporting arm to said rotatable head, an orienting rudder consisting of a substantially cylindrical surface having vertical generatrices and whose greater dimension is vertically disposed, an arm for supporting said rudder pivotally mounted on said rotatable head, said cylindrical surface being dissymmetrically disposed with respect to said last mentioned arm, a stop carried by said head adapted to prevent said last mentioned arm from making an angle of mo-re than 90 degrees with the blade supporting arm, two other arms articulated to each other and to said blade supporting and. rudder carrying arms so as to form an articulated lozenge, and resilient means for normally maintaining said arms at right angles to each other.

3. An orienting and etl'acing device for wind motors having a rotatable head carrying a wind motor which comprises in combination an eifacing blade, an arm for supporting said effacing blade, elastic means for i.; angularly connecting said arm to said rota-table head, an orienting rudder consisting of a substantially lcylindrical surface having vertical generatrices and whosegreater Vdi.- mension iswvertically disposed', an arm for supporting said rudder pivotally mounted on said 'rotatable head, said cylindrical surface being dissymmetrically disposed with respect to `said -last mentioned arm, anarm rigidl-y mounted" on said `rotatable head, an 'elastic stop on saidlast mentioned arm adapted to prevent said rudder carrying arm frommaking an angleof Vmore than 90 -degreeswith the blade supporting arm, two other arms articulated toeach other and to the bladev Asupporting and rudder carrying arms sogas to form an articulated lozenge, and a spring adapted to .connect voppositexapexes of Vsaid i lozenge for normally maintaining said arms atright Vangles to each other. t

4. An orienting and effacing dev1ce` for wind motors havinga rotatable head carry- Y.

ing a wind motor which comprises in combination an effacing blade, an arm for supporting said etfacing blade, elastic means for angularly connecting'said arm to said rotatable head, another arm pivotally mounted on said Vrotatable head, said cylindrical surface being dissymmetrically disposed 4with respectto said last mentioned arm, a stop carried by said rotatable head adapted to prevent said last mentioned arm from making an angle of more than degrees with the blade supporting arm, la cylindrical `rudder pivotally mounted` on one sideofsaid pivoting arm, l

two stops for limiting' the Arotation of 'said rudder with respect to said arm, two other arms articulated to each other and toV the blade supporting and rudder carrying arms so asto form an articulated lozenge, and a spring adapted to connect opposite apeXes of los Y said lozenge for normally maintaining said arms at rig-hty angles to each other;

5. An orienting and effacing device for Awind motorshaving a rotatable head carrying a-wmd motor-'which comprisesm'combination an eiacmg blade, an. arm for supportving saideilacing blade, elastic means tory connecting said arm to ysaid rotatable head,.an other arm pivotallyfmounted'to said. rotatable-head, a stop carried by said rotatable head adapted to prevent saidl last mentioned arm "from making an angle of more than 90 degrees with the blade supporting arm, Aa cylindrical rudder pivotally mounted on said pivoting arm, two stops for limiting the rotation of'said rudder with respect to said last mentioned arm, two springs interposed between each of said stops andthe pivoting rudder respectively,'two other arms articulated` to each other and to the blade supporting and rudder carrying arms so as to form an articulated lozenge, `and a spring adapted to connect opposite apexesof said lozenge for normally maintaining said arms at right angles to each other. Y

6. An' orienting and effecting device r wind motorshaving a rotatable headlcarrying Va wind motor which comprises in combination an effacing blade, an arm for supporting said eacing blade, elastic means for connecting said arm to said rotatable head, another arm pivotally mounted on said rotatable head, a stop carried by said rotatable head adapted to prevent said last mentioned arm from making, an angle of more than 90 degrees with the blade supporting arm, a cylindrical rudder pivotally mounted on said pivotingV arm, a wind-vane mounted on said rudder carrying arm adapted to control the angular position of saidrudder, said wind vane eomprisingorienting surfaces mounted .on an articulated quadrilateral, two. other arms articulated to each other and to the blade supporting and rudder carrying arms so as to Vform anarticulated lozenge, and a spring adapted toconnect opposite apexes of said lozenge for normally maintaining said arms at right angles to each other.`

7 An orienting and effacing device for wind motors having a rotatable head carrying said windk motor, which comprisesin combination, an eifacing blade, an arm for supporting said effacing blade, elastic means for angularly connecting said arm to said rotatable head, another arm pivotally mounted on said rotatable head, a stop carriedby -said rotatable head adapted to preventsaid last mentioned arm from making an angle of more than 90 with the blade supporting arm, a bracket rigidlyk secured tothe free end of said pivoting'arm at right angles thereto, acylindrical rudder having generatrices pivoted to the end of said bracket, vmeans for controlling the angular position of said cylindrical rudder with respect to said pivote ing arm, two stops for limiting the rotation of said rudder with respect to saidy arm, two otherarms articulated to each other and to the blade supporting and rudder carrying arms so as to form an articulated lozenge, and a spring adapted to connect opposite apeXes of said lozenge for normally maintaining said arms at right angles to each other.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specication.

LOUIS CONSTANTIN. PAUL FORTIER-BEAULIEU. 

